Hi there!

b> --- Alina Karieva wrote:
>> HELLO BIG MAC! HELLO EVERYBODY!
>> TODAY I'M WRITING WITH BIG LETTERS. :))

b> Hello Alina. Today I'm writing with a keyboard! ;-)
And with fingers :P

b> Sorry for the delay. I can't always get online.
It's OK, me too...

b> BTW, I'd have written that last sentence as "Naturally we're often
b> critical of each other, but it's friendly." or "...it's a friendly
b> relationship."
I understood it.

b> Don't worry too much if someone else you know has better English than
b> you do. Life is not a competition. We should all try to be the best
b> person that we can be rather than try to be better than our friends.
b> If you ever meet someone who shows off because they have better
b> English than you, then they are probably a bit immature.
Good said! I never take serious showing off persons.
Never will behave in an affected manner that man who knows his own.

b> BTW that should be "I agree."
Noted.

>> b> It looks to me that you are a person that likes to be given
>> b> critisism, so that you can learn from your mistakes.
>> APPROVING NOD...
b> Approving wink... ;-)

b> I think we have similar behaviour on this subject. Lets find some
b> other things to talk about to see if we have any interesting
b> differences!
Let's! For example,have you Women's Day in UK?
It's Holiday in our Country on March 8
and we have 3 days-off. It's cool!

b> I do that a *lot*. I post a reply to one message and then read
b> something in the next one that makes my reply look wrong.
I hate myself in these moments!
I's so easy - just look through the message once more,
but we're always are hurrying... :(

>> >> > I tucked into a lovely pair of jacket potatoes that were
>> b> accompanied by a selection of vegatables, some veggie fingers and
b> something mysterious that was the shape of a sausage roll.
>> >> Not so bad.
>>
>> b> You should try a roast dinner sometime. Mmmmm!
>> NOTED, WILL TRY.

b> So what is your favorite dinner?
I have a lot of favorite dishes, especially meat.
Do you know kabob/shashlik? This is meat prepared on the spit.
Add some large onion, sprinkle a little vinegar...
That's all! You have wonderful dinner!
Sandey, read carefully! You were soooooo hungry! LOL

>> b> <snip>
>> >> > if you talk to us.
>> BUT I THINK THAT WE'RE BOTH IN THIS GROUP - YOU AND ME,
>> I HAVEN'T ANY CORRESPONDENCE FROM OTHER MEMBERS.

b> Do you mean "But I think that we're the only people in this group?"
I know. Sometimes I myself prefer just to read what chat other
people, without my log in...

b> There are other people here, but sometimes we get quite or sometimes
b> we are busy doing other things and forget to log in.

b> We originally started off writing in a newspaper and our community
b> changed between 6 messages a week and over 200 messages a week. At
b> one point there were over 50 of us!
Great!

b> Hopefully more people will come back when they see that we have a new
b> person to play with! ;-)
Let's try. "a new person" is me. Right? ;)

>> b> Look up "Cockney Ryming Slang" in a search engine. This was used
b> by
>> b> poor people that didn't want rich people to understand them.
>> WILL LOOK...
b> Did you look yet, my old china?
Not yet... What is "my old china"?

b> If you did you will understand what I just said!!!
No doubt, I hadn't enough free time for it.

b> Spanish is quite easy to learn...and unfortunately quite easy to
b> forget!!!
Quite right! I have such experience already!

b> I keep relearning the same things!
This is not for only Spanish. Foreign languages need to used.
Just interrupt using - enough! You will relearning the same!

b> If you ever get to watch a news clip of the Hindenberg disaster you
b> hear the man reporting it using the word with its original meaning.
b> He says: "This is really terrific." and when they show it on the TV
b> now, they have to explain what "terrific" used to mean so that people
b> don't get the wrong idea. If they didn't explain it people would
b> think he was saying that it was good that the Hindenberg was crashing!
:)) Yes, this is play on words...

b> I just have to be careful to not get kidnapped. There are people in
b> South America (mostly in Colombia) that do that sort of thing.
Morning news: Big Mac got kidnapped. Oh, no, it's awful, I can't
believe, I will pray to God for you.
Oh my God, I'm carried away.... :)))

b> And TV documentaries are great when you don't have enough time or
b> money to travel. They also let you avoid airport delays, loosing your
b> luggage and other problems! :-)
It's the best way for travelling pensioners, not for youth. :)

b> How is your relationship with the rest of what was the USSR? Are you
b> part of the CIS? Are you still in the Warsaw Pact? Do have any other
b> special organisations?
Uzbekistan is the part of CIS and our relationship with the others
members are mutual and friendly.
Regarding Warshaw Pact - I'm not sure. Regarding other special
organisations - a lot of.

b> Wow! I remember reading that there were some arguments about flags at
b> this time. It was either in the new countries made from the USSR or
b> some of the new countries that appeared in Eastern Europe at the same
b> time. Did you have any disagreements over your new flag?
No. We have our own Flag now, our Hymn...
We're independent Country!
I don't know about some disagreements over our Flag...

b> We are like that. There isn't really a typical British person,
b> because we have been invaded a lot. In Scotland some people have red
b> hair (from the Vikings) and in England some people have blond hair
b> (from Northen Europe) and other people have brown hair (from the
b> Normans). In fact a lot of Scotish, Welsh and Irish people *still*
b> think English people are foreign people (despite the fact that they
b> have been here for over 1000 years and are partially Celtic).
The same thing in the CIS with different nations.

b> What other countries do you get your TV from?
I myself haven't any other countries from TV, but for a while.
But we have a lot of channels in English.
Not so many people can get foreign TV. First of all - language
barrier. And they don't need it.
Beside that we have translated movies, TV Shows etc.
on Russian. I like to watch BBC News, but I can't have it at home,
so watching occasionally.
About 60% films are American, we're watching them translated.

b> I don't know enough about you to know what to ask. Why not tell me
b> how the break up of the USSR changed Uzbekistan.
Oh, it's difficult theme.
I don't want to discuss it in mail...
Guess you understand me.

b> Did people want it before it happened? Did people worry that there
b> would be a war? Or was it just a big suprise that nobody knew about
b> until it happend?
It was surprise... See above comments.

b> Has your independece made you change all of your money, signs, army
b> and police uniforms and other things?
Everything!

b> Does it feel as if your country has changed now?
Of course. A lot of things became better.

b> Here are some facts about Big Ben. Big Ben is actually the name of
b> the largest bell in the Westminister Clock Tower. You can hear it,
b> but you can't actually see it unless you have some friends inside
b> parliament. Big Ben has a crack in it and that makes it sound
b> different to other clock bells.
Why nobody repair it? Have you seen Big Ben yourself?

b> It is nice to walk alongside The Thames, but make sure you bring a
b> coat because it can make the air cold sometimes. We have a Thames
b> walkway that goes from the source of the river to The Thames Barrier.
b> So you can walk along most of it.
It's so romantic!

b> The stuff about rain is true, but the stuff about fog isn't. Our
b> famous London fogs were actually caused by polution rather than
b> weather. We have a special word for that now: smog. Smog is smokey
b> fog and can kill people with breathing problems.
What do you do to reduce smog? Or it's impossible?

b> Back in the days of Jack the Ripper East London used to get all the
b> chimney smoke from West London (becase the winds blow from west to
b> east). The East End of London also used to get the sewerage water
b> from the west, so it used to smell much worse than the West End. That
b> has all changed now.
Oh-oh!

b> However, the East End of London originally was the place where poor
b> people lived, because the rich people all wanted to be in the West
b> End. The old buildings in these places are very different. The
b> suburbs of London also have different characters. You can see some
b> very strange buildings in certain places.
The same thing in our city. BTW, the Capital of Uzbekistan is
Tashkent. I live in the capital, this is my native town.
Tashkent has conditional two parts Old City and New City.
There is very different buildings, big contrast - ancient buildings
in the old city, and modern European in the new city.

b> I think it is in Moscow. I don't remember the name of the park, but
b> it might be Gorky Park.
I was in Moscow. You're right - Gorky Part.
But I don't remember all shops, I was child then.

b> So how are you getting along with the countries near you that used to
b> be on the other side of the Iron Curtain? Do people go on holiday to
b> places outside the former USSR much?
Of course. All neighboring Countries.

b> (That should be "I also" not "I'm also".) I think that if we all make
b> friends it is harder for our governments to demonise people when they
b> want an excuse to start a war.
Why are you talking about war so often?
I'm afraid to hear about war.
But I'm sure that Government is too powerful thing...

b> I didn't know it was so easy to fly here. Visa's can be a problem
b> because everyone is scared that poor people will all want to come and
b> live here. They had a couple of TV documentaries that were saying
b> lots of Russian women were advertising on the Internet to get married
b> so that they could get into other countries. .
I know. And because of these people it's very difficult to get visa
for UK, USA or Germany. Even you have an invitation or exam
results, end even you have paid the tuition fee for enrollment,
nothing can guarantee that you will get visa.
A lot of people lied and stayed abroad illegally.
Of course every Embassy workers will be scared to issue visa.

b> I think the money thing is a big problem waiting to happen. We now
b> have a situation where some houses in London are worth more than a
b> million pounds! A lot of people can not afford to buy a house. The
b> rise in prices has been spreading out to other parts of England and
b> is now making holiday homes in the European Community go up in price
b> as well. I think that at some point property speculators will try to
b> push up the prices in your country. Maybe in 5-15 years, but I think
b> it will get to you at some point.
I've already noticed this tendency...

>> b> That should have been "I wish you a good day." and something
>> b> like "And wish everybody who has read this correspondence all
b> the
>> b> best!!!" (I say something like, because you can sometimes say
>> b> something several different ways in English. I tried to write it
b> as
>> b> similar to your way as possible.)
>> WOW!!!! EVEN AN ARTICLE!!!!
b> :-)
b> I think that is a complement, so thanks.

It's not complement! I meant you're getting even to the article!
:PPPPP!!!!!

>> NOTED, KISS YOU!
b> Kiss me, huh? With or without tongues?
b> LOL
No! Tongue for you is above! A lot of tongues! LOL LOL!

b> I don't even know your capital city. Is Uzbekistan divided into
b> smaller administrative areas? If so do these have capitals as well?
Capital is Tashkent. Uzbekistan is not separated into small areas,
and we have one capital.
BTW, have you head about cities in Uzbekistan - Samarkand,
Bukhara and Khiva? These are worldwide known touristic centers.
Many tourists from all over the world are visiting these ancient
uzbek cities every year.

b> The UK is the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northen Ireland".
b> Great Britain is England, Scotland and Wales. England, Scotland,
b> Wales and Northen Ireland are countries. However, sometimes people
b> call the UK or Great Britain a country. All of the four countries are
b> divided into several counties. A county has an administrative
b> capital. London is a bit of an exception to the county system as it
b> is acutally built on the land from several counties.

b> So how is your country put together?

b> I can call myself English (although technically I am not English),
b> British or a Londoner. How many things can someone from where you
b> live call themselves?
You mean nation? My nation is Uzbek, although I'm metis.
My Dad is Uzbek and Mum is Russian.
I call myself Uzbek. But if you look at me you will never call my
uzbek girl. LOL.

>> b> By the way, what does the name Alina mean?
>> I'M ASHAMED BUT I DON'T KNOW. I COULDN'T FIND MY NAME IN GUIDES...
>> I MYSELF WANT TO KNOW.

b> The Internet is a wonderful place. I've seen that you already have an
b> answer.
Yes, maybe.

b> Yours capitallessly,
b> Big Mac
Kiss you,
Alina
LOL